


Drunks, Air Raids, Fear, and Idiot Boys

by RedHeadedWoman



Series: 52 Stories in 52 Weeks [8]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Captain America: The First Avenger, Derogatory Language, Drunk Bucky Barnes, Drunken behaviour, Gen, Howling Commandos - Freeform, London Underground, Oblivious Bucky, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter & Bucky Barnes Friendship, Peggy Carter & the Howling Commandos, Peggy Carter is better than you, Peggy is Smarter than these Boys, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Homophobia, Protective Peggy Carter, Wartime, Wartime London, World War II, air raids, alcohol use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-23 15:28:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6120973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedHeadedWoman/pseuds/RedHeadedWoman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AKA, Peggy Carter loves these dumb boys and has no problems with fear. </p>
<p>Peggy Carter is not a naive young girl. She knew what the war could hold for her when she joined the effort. Dealing with the Howling Commandos when their drunk, however, is a whole other story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drunks, Air Raids, Fear, and Idiot Boys

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt for this week: a story set during war

Peggy Carter was neither a naive girl nor an idiot, thank you very much. Contrary to her mother's belief, she’d known what she was getting into when she’d joined the war effort. Initially a code breaker, it hadn’t taken long for her to rise through the ranks and end up Colonel Phillips right hand. The loss of her brother had devastated her beyond belief. She’d seen her share of horrors in her time and knew what war held. She had seen, and done, things no one should ever have to experience.  

Nothing, however, could have prepared her for dealing with the Howling Commandos.

The men had had a difficult few weeks, trawling through Europe to bring down Hydra strongholds. Peggy had watched them from the sidelines, several hundred miles away from where the Commandos had been operating. She didn’t deny them the rest they needed nor did she feel the need to attempt to corral them.

Instead, she’d gone along with them, and several other units, as they hit the town in war-torn London. It had still been early evening when they’d headed out, but now, hours later, the city was dark and empty. Peggy didn’t believe she would ever get used to London being so utterly quiet during the night.

Now, at midnight, they were drunkenly making their way back to base for the rest of the night. Peggy was barely tipsy herself and walked sedately behind the boys. She cared for all these men, none quite so much as Steve. He was holding Barnes up, an arm under his shoulders, while Barnes sung along with the others to a bawdy bar ballad. Peggy smiled at them as someone opened their window and yelled for them to shut up. The boys, of course, responded in kind. Steve, at least, attempted to shush them.

‘Give up, captain,’ Peggy suggested as she stepped into line with him. Steve gave her a small smile. ‘Nothing will shut them up till they hit their bunks for the night.’

‘Told ya, Stevie,’ Barnes slurred. A wide grin stretched across his face. He was, Peggy knew, a beautiful man, though not at all her type. Not any more anyway. ‘Too good a night to be quiet.’

‘Yes, Bucky,’ Steve said, smiling at Barnes with the same goofy grin he always did. Peggy sighed to herself. All the good men.

‘Although, I do believe if Dum Dum continues, he’s going to end up hurting himself.’ Peggy pointed at Dum Dum who was currently walking along the very edge of the curb. As unbalanced as he was he would end up falling. Steve sighed.

‘Hold Bucky up for me?’

‘Of course,’ Peggy took his place under Barnes’ arm as Steve dealt with Dum Dum. Barnes grinned at her.

‘C’n see why Stevie likes ya so much, Carter,’ Barnes leant heavily against her. Peggy shifted his weight to carry him better. ‘Cause you’re strong. And pretty.’

‘Thank you, sergeant,’ Peggy said. ‘Come along now. Mustn’t stop in the middle of the street.’ Barnes looked down at his feet and frowned. Peggy stifled a laugh as Barnes slowly put one foot in front of the other and carefully began walking. ‘That’s it. One step at a time. Bang up job, sergeant.’

‘I’s Bucky, ma’am,’ Barnes slurred. Peggy winced at the “ma’am” rubbish. Barnes, Bucky, laughed, bright and loud. Steve glanced back at them and smiled just as bright as his friend’s laugh.

‘And it’s Peggy,’ she retorted. Bucky, gaze still mostly on his feet, nodded.

They’d just stopped so Falsworth, to the raucous laughter of Dernier, could vomit into the gutter, when an Air Raid Siren shrilly disturbed the quiet stillness of the night. Fear gripped Peggy’s heart at the sound.

‘Peg. The nearest shelter?’ Steve asked, as residents began waking to stream out of their homes and into a shelter.

‘This way.’ Peggy quickly lead them down a side street. The sound seemed to have shocked the boys out of their drunken stupor. Though they were still wobbling, they now walked with purpose, though Barnes kept his arm around her shoulders. Others, who didn't have shelters of their own, ran past them to the nearest tube station.

When they reached the station, Peggy and the boys stayed at the entrance, herding people down the stairs. By now, the floodlights were on, lighting up the night sky. The boys filed onto the stairs. Peggy stayed for a moment, listening to the siren and watching the sky.

‘Peg?’ Steve touched her arm. Peggy turned from the seemingly empty sky and managed a small smile.

‘I’m not sure London can survive this,’ she admitted quietly to him. Steve glanced out over the deserted streets and up into the sky.

‘Londoners are stronger than they think,’ Steve nodded at the sky indicating the German bombers who were yet to materialise. ‘We can’t stay up here, Peg.’ Steve gently pulled her on to the stairs and down to one of the platforms.

People were sitting or lying down on both sides of the platform. Children were curled up with their parents or ducking between families with their friends. Despite the fear and the worry etched into their lives, these children, left behind in the exodus out of the city, were still trying to have fun. Were still trying to find laughter amid the constant fear. Peggy admired the resilience of children and their ability to come back from trauma.

They settled in a less crowded section of the platform to wait out the night. Above them, Peggy could hear distant, muffled explosions. Beside her, Falsworth groaned, dropping his head onto his knees. Peggy lightly knocked their shoulders together.

‘Jesus,’ Bucky breathed on her other side. Steve was the only one standing. He was looking around the platform as parents dragged their children back to them. ‘Steve, you’re makin’ me nervous. Sit down would ya?’ Steve rolled his eyes and sat where he stood, back to the train tracks.

‘You should all try to sleep.’ Steve suggested.

‘You really think we’ll be able to sleep with that going on?’ Gabe pointed at the ceiling as another explosion ripped through the night. ‘No way anyone’s gonna sleep till they stop.’ Gabe leant back against the wall as Dernier started speaking to him in rapid fire French.

‘By God, Dernier,’ Falsworth sat up, glaring along the line at the Frenchman. ‘We’re already hungover. Must you make it worse?’

‘Fuck you, Englishman,’ Dernier snapped in a thick French accent. Peggy sighed and wondered, not for the first time, why she ever bothered with this lot. The two men were, of course, friends, but they were English and French, after all, so there was inevitably going to be some bickering. The booze in their systems probably didn’t help.

Before they could take it any further, Dum Dum interrupted, ‘Can it, children. We’ve got a long night stuck in a fucking train station.’ Dernier and Falsworth fell silent.

‘So we’ll pass the time,’ Steve said, clearly casting about for something to distract them all. Peggy heard Bucky swear under his breath. Steve either didn’t notice or decided not too. ‘We could play a game of some kind?’

‘You got any cards on ya, Cap?’ Bucky asked, a cocky smirk on his face. ‘Cause I sure as fuck don’t.’

‘We don’t need cards to play a game, Buck,’ Steve didn’t quite snap at his old friend but it was a close thing. Bucky’s only response was a raised eyebrow.

‘Sure helps though.’ Dum Dum added.

‘Cap’s right, though,’ Gabe said. ‘Gotta pass the time.’

‘Your suggestion then?’ Falsworth patted his pockets, a cigarette hanging from his lips. ‘Don’t suppose any of you chaps has any matches? Peg?’

‘I’m afraid not, Mr Falsworth,’ Peggy snatched the cigarette from his mouth. ‘And I’ll thank you not to smoke down here. It’s bad enough with the lingering stench of the trains hanging about.’ Falsworth shrugged and slipped the cigarette back into his pocket when Peggy handed it back over.

Peggy listened to the boys debate the merits of various games they could use to pass the time. Peggy, though, watched those around her. Families huddled together, whispering calming words to each other, to their neighbours. It made her long for her lost brother, for her parents, and, briefly, for the life she might’ve once had if things had been different. If they hadn’t found themselves locked in the middle of a seemingly endless war.

‘You alright, Pegs?’ Bucky asked his voice pitched low.

‘Yes, thank you,’ Peggy assured him and patted his hand. Bucky gazed at her for another moment before smiling.

‘If you say so, Agent Carter.’

‘I do, Sergeant Barnes,’ Peggy smiled as Dum Dum and Dernier shot down whatever game Gabe and Falsworth liked. Steve, it seemed, was content to let the boys argue, though he was watching all of them. ‘Tell me, Bucky,’ Peggy spoke as quietly as she could to ensure Steve wouldn’t be able to hear her. ‘Has Steve always been so -’ Peggy subtly waved a hand at Steve.

‘Fucking hopeless? Pretty much, yeah. He’s never been great at makin’ friends, even worse at talking to dames.’ Bucky shrugged. ‘I took him out on double dates but they never ended right.’

‘Hmm, I suppose.’

‘Some people just don’t know a good thing when they see it. Most dames, most people would see Steve, all skinny and sick and full o’ fight, and they’d ignore him or worse.’

‘Worse?’

‘They’d say nasty things ‘bout him. Either to his face or behind his back.’

‘I assume that’s why you and he ended up in so many fights?’

‘Yep,’ Bucky grinned, glancing at Steve. Peggy couldn’t help recognising the look on his face. ‘Couldn’t let ‘em say that crap ‘bout Stevie, ya know?’

‘Oh, I think I understand you completely, sergeant.’ Peggy said. Bucky frowned at her but didn’t say anything. ‘And I suppose now, he won’t have any problems in finding women who are interested in him.’

‘Probably not but Steve’s not like that. He wants the fairy tale. A wife, kids. Whole package.’ Peggy hummed. Bucky frowned at her again.

‘I’m sure he’ll find it one day.’

‘Pretty sure he wants to find it with you, ma’am.’ Bucky said.

‘Buck!’ Steve squawked. Apparently, he had better hearing than either of them had thought. Peggy couldn’t help laughing at the utterly horrified expression on the poor man’s face. Bucky wasn’t much better, though he at least seemed sorry.

‘Relax, Stevie. Carter ain’t blind.’ Bucky teased his friend. Watching the two men, Peggy wondered how they’d never realised before. Then again, she supposed, most men weren’t exactly in tune with their feelings. Certainly not when those feelings were illegal and completely misunderstood by the rest of society.

‘Si seulement ils pouvaient voir comment l'autre regardait. Peut-être qu'ils ne seraient pas tout à fait aussi misérable.’ Dernier said, aware that neither Steve nor Bucky’s French was good enough to understand him. Peggy, though, understood completely.

‘Je ne pouvais pas d'accord avec vous, Dernier. Mais ce sont les hommes américains. Ils ne sont pas aussi éclairé que le reste du monde.’  Peggy told him.

‘Nous ne sommes pas si mal que ça, Peggy,’ Gabe countered, frowning. ‘Eh bien, je veux dire, ces idiots pourraient être. La plupart d'entre eux, en fait.’  Gabe frowned. ‘Mais pas moi.’ **  
**

‘Hey, you lot wanna share?’ Dum Dum interrupted.

‘Pas du tout.’  Peggy grinned. Dum Dum rolled his eyes. All of them knew exactly what that meant. ‘At least the bombs have stopped falling.’ Peggy looked up at the ceiling. It had been a while since she’d heard anything but that didn’t mean the bombs weren’t still falling.

‘Hopefully the Krauts have given up for the night.’ Falsworth said. ‘It won’t matter though. No one will be allowed to leave until morning. We’re stuck here for a while longer, gents. Ma’am.’ Falsworth added with a nod to Peggy.

‘May as well settle in for the night then,’ Steve said. ‘I’m gonna go around and make sure everyone’s okay.’ Steve stood, dusting off his pants.

‘You know there’re cops down here for that exact reason.’ Bucky pointed out. Steve ignored him and began moving through the crowd of people and talking quietly to some of them. Peggy watched him go as the others teased Steve and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep.

Peggy, though, knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Apart from being uncomfortable, the ever-present threat of bombs dropping on their heads hung over her. Instead of sleeping, she watched the boys begin slipping off, the alcohol helping them. Around them, others were falling into restless sleep as well, except those comforting children or speaking to Steve.

‘You scared, Peg?’ Bucky muttered, leaning against her shoulder.

‘Scared of what, sergeant?’

‘The war. Death. All of it, I guess,’ Bucky yawned and shifted to make them both more comfortable.

‘I am scared, yes. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying to you or to themselves. Fear is part of war, Bucky. In my experience, you rarely find one without the other.’

‘Hmm,’ Bucky hummed against her shoulder. ‘Stevie keeps lying. Says he’s not scared. He’s a bad fucken’ liar, Peg.’

‘I’ve noticed,’ Peggy agreed as Steve walked across the tracks to the other side of the station. ‘Are you scared, Bucky?’

‘Fucking terrified,’ Bucky admitted whether through alcohol, tiredness, or exhaustion Peggy didn’t know. ‘But not for myself. I’m scared for Steve, Peg. He doesn’t have anything to go home to. I’ve got a little sister. The other guys all have someone or something to go home to. Stevie’s only got me.’

‘Perhaps that’s why he’s here,’ Peggy suggested. ‘Steve told me he doesn’t like bullies and that’s why he wanted to join the Army,’ Bucky huffed against her shoulder, tickling her neck. ‘I disagree. I think that’s just what he keeps telling himself.’

‘You think?’

‘Yes. You served in the Pacific, didn’t you? Before heading back home for a while?’

‘Yeah. Four months in the Pacific, back home for two, and then shipped out here.’ Bucky said.

‘What did Steve do while you were gone?’

‘Fuck all far as I can tell. He left school and managed to find work in odd places. Grocery stores mostly. My ma and sister helped him out when they could.’

‘And when you returned home?’

‘I dunno. He was with me most of the time.’

‘And then you were shipped out again and Steve met Erskine,’ Peggy patted the back of Bucky’s hand. ‘I think Steve wanted to join the war effort so desperately because he wanted to help, yes, but I also think he wanted to keep you safe. To make sure you were safe and looked after and be able to go home to your family.’

‘That’s stupid, Peg. Stevie ain’t that stupid.’

‘I think he may be,’ Peggy said as Steve rejoined them and sat beside Bucky. ‘He’s rather predictable.’

‘You’re tellin’ me,’ Bucky muttered. Peggy couldn’t see his face but judging by Steve’s, Bucky was giving his friend a rather nasty look.

‘Some people are simply more concerned about the welfare of others than of themselves. So they willing join war efforts or become missionaries. Some people will go to great lengths to help others, especially for the people they care about,’ Steve was frowning at her but she ignored him in favour of talking to Bucky. ‘There is nothing inherently wrong with this. However, their actions do sometimes put them in danger to achieve this. I think most of this little team falls right into that category. All of you agreed to join this unit because you want to help. Of course, I suppose part of the reason is so you can kill some Nazis.’

‘Damn right.’ Falsworth muttered next to her. Peggy lightly slapped his arm.

‘Idiot,’ Peggy snapped though she could hear the fondness in her own voice. ‘My point is that none of you are as subtle as you think. I know as well as you all do that you’re scared. That this war, that the missions you do are scaring you. I don’t blame any of you for your fear. Of course you’re scared. Every soldier in this war is scared of both the war and what’s coming for them. Now, for goodness sake, go to sleep. You’re heading out again tomorrow.’

The boys laughed at her, sleepy and drunk. Against her shoulder, she could feel Bucky smiling. She ran her fingers through his hair and leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. She, too, was scared of what was coming for her and for the boys.

Peggy didn’t doubt something was coming for them. They were the Howling Commandos, for God’s sake. Of course something was coming for them. She could only hope that the war wouldn’t take their lives. That they’d all be able to go home to their families and be able to live the rest of their lives in peace and quiet. God knew they deserved it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> "Kraut" is considered a derogatory word for Germans, particularly during World War I and II. At the time, none of the Commandos or Peggy would have seen anything wrong with using the term.
> 
> Google Translate was my friend for this so I apologise for any mistakes. The conversation in English is:
> 
> ‘If only they could see how the other looked at them. Perhaps they wouldn't be quite so miserable.’ Dernier said.
> 
> ‘I couldn't agree with you more, Dernier. But these are American men. They aren't so enlightened as the rest of the world.’ Peggy told him.
> 
> ‘We aren’ that bad, Peggy,’ Gabe countered, frowning. ‘Well, I mean, these idiots might be. Most of them, actually.’ Gabe frowned. ‘But not me.’
> 
> ‘Hey, you lot wanna share?’ Dum Dum interrupted.
> 
> ‘Not at all.’ Peggy grinned.


End file.
